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Salman Rushdie and freedom of speech
By Paul Monk, 22 September 2022
Salman Rushdie was assailed by 24-year-old Muslim fanatic Hadi Matar on 12 August as he was about to give a public lecture in New York. Matar stabbed him several times and also wounded the interviewer, Henry Reese, who was beside Rushdie on stage. The assault was denounced by many figures, including heads of state, around the world, as a direct attack on freedom of speech.
Matar’s deed was hailed by the official and conservative press in Iran. Matar’s America-based mother, on the other hand, condemned the attack and declared she will never speak to her son again. There’s the difference between fanaticism and humanity.
"(Freedom of speech) is an explicit and avowed principle of only two phases of Western civilisation: the classical world of the Greek and Roman republics, and the modern liberal world. It requires protection under law and standards of civility that have in general been lacking almost everywhere. If we don’t understand it in those terms, we don’t understand it at all."
Paul Monk
Public intellectual, writer, columnist and poet
Public intellectual, writer, columnist and poet
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Salman Rushdie and freedom of speech
Salman Rushdie was assailed by 24-year-old Muslim fanatic Hadi Matar on 12 August as he was about to give a …
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